Eco Tip: Line Drying Everything!

Eco Tip:  Line Dry More Than Just Diapers

    Summer is here!  Warm breezes and sunny skies make it perfect for line drying cloth diapers.  Many of us know the benefits of line drying cloth diapers such as preserving PUL in AIO or Pocket diapers.  However, many of us over look the benefits of sun drying our everyday clothes.  And one of the great things about the warmer weather is the softer and nicer the clothes seem to feel.
    Line drying clothes is an easy way to help cut the electric bills during the summer months.  A few different sites quote the savings around $156(1) a year or about $25(2) a month for electric dryers.  The lower your electric bill the lower your family’s carbon foot print is.  Its a great way to get outside and get some sunshine especially with a continual rise of  Vitamin D deficiency.  The summer months are especially great because the warm weather keeps clothes from getting stiff and they will feel just as soft as if they were in the dryer.  Another good reason is that clothes last longer think of all that lint, which is a sign of the fabric being worn down. 

Here are some tips to get the best results when line drying:

1.  hang the colored clothes inside out to help maintain clothes
2.  shake the wrinkles out and smooth as many as you can with your hands.  Reduces any need for ironing
3.  hang heavy jeans folded over then half way through drying flip and shack out wrinkles to optimize drying and helping to prevent stiffness

A helpful hint when line drying sheets fold over and allow to blow in the breeze like a sail to promote even drying.  Another good hint is if you want to hang out your “intimate” items hang them in between two layers of regular clothes creating a few walls to hide them behind.(3)

In our house, to help us remember to hang and dry our darker clothes inside-out we just inside them out when we take them off.  Its also better for the clothes to be washed that way.  We also try to wash most of, if not all our clothes in cold water.  This will help maintain your clothes and fabrics longer.  65% of Americans use hot water or warm water to wash clothes(2) lowing that percentage could help the environment as well as your personal pocket book. Cold water cleans most clothes just as well but if you plan to use warm or hot water save it for visibly dirty items.  Its even better to use cold water when cleaning cloth diapers, make sure to do a good soak ahead of time, especially with PUL which gets worn down from the rough hot water and then being heated in a hot dryer.

These are just a few of the many reasons that hang drying clothes can be great for you and your family.    

(1)http://gogreeninyourhome.com/how-to-save-electricity/save-money-doing-laundry-drying-clothes/

(2)http://www.laundrylist.org/en/line-drying

(3)http://www.momadvice.com/money/line_drying_clothing.aspx

Quickie Eco Tip of the Week...

Well, this quickie tip actually came from my good friend who started me out in using cloth diapers without even trying.

If you are not so lucky or so talented as to be able to make all your own breads, you probably go through a good many bread, buns, rolls, and tortilla packages. Those flimsy little bags hardly seem worth saving, and they take so little room compressed in the garbage pail, right? Think again. Their compact nature and light weight make them perfect for tucking into a diaper bag, out-and-about bag, or even a purse. If you don't already have a travel wet bag, bread bags make great storage for wet and soiled diapers, especially the nasty ones! Tie it off tight and when you get home, just rip it apart over the diaper bin and toss the bag in the trash. One standard bread bag can hold 3-4 diapers!


Already have a great travel wet bag? Use your bread bags in the kitchen. We usually buy sandwich bread but make homemade dinner breads. Leftover rolls usually get stored in a saved bread bag. Bread bags also make great storage for things that you want to toss in the fridge for the next day, like leftover pizza. We also use them for unused portions of veggies that come in packages that must be torn off, like cabbage, lettuce, and broccoli.

I'm sure if you thought about it, you could find many other handy uses for your bread bags. Leave a few out on the counter and you might be surprised at what you do with them--just make sure they're out of reach of little one, of courses! We have recently been trying to reduce our use of ziplocks, plastic wrap, etc. and those little baggies have served lots of interesting purposes.

Do you know of any other great uses for bread bags? Let us know!

10 Steps to self-sufficiency

The term self-sufficiency is usually applied to varieties of sustainable living in which nothing is consumed outside of what is produced by the self-sufficient individuals.  Without going all "creepy hermit in the woods" on you, becoming more self-sufficient is a great way to be environmentally friendly as well as provide a healthy lifestyle for your family.  Below are 10 easy steps to becoming more self-sufficient (without earning you "hermit" status).

1.  Start a garden

Gardening can be a very easy way to become more self-sufficient.  You can start out small with potted herbs on a window sill or tomatoes in a larger container on the back step.  Any bit of food that you can grow for yourself means that it is one less item that you are depending on big commericial farms for.  Not to mention the fact that you’ll know exactly what you put on your plants and on your table.

2.  Buy used

Yes you are still buying but this way you are buying items that would otherwise end up sitting in a landfill.  You are reducing your impact on the environment and reducing your dependence on new products and those pesky chain stores that sell them.  Buying used is also going to allow you to save money. 

3.  Get out of debt

Owing someone (the credit card companies) something is never fun.  It ties you to that company and makes it difficult to really be on your own.  Try to get out of debt and stay out of debt, saving up for bigger purchases and re-evaluating what you really need.

4.  Learn to sew / knit / crochet

Go ahead and cross this one off your list! Seriously though being able to make and or repair your own clothes is super handy.  You won't have to pay someone to do it for you and you can even use it to earn money (like we do at Etsy)

5.  Line dry your clothes

One less appliance running means a lower electric bill and that is always a good thing.  Also, line drying your clothes gives them that warm, sunshiney smell that doesn't hold a candle to dryer sheets (at least in my opinion)

6.  Explore alternative energy 

Currently, my husband and I are heating our home with a wood stove.  While i love the sound of a wood fire crackling I loved it even more when I heard how much our friends were paying for heating oil.  Its great to know that as long as we are responsibly harvesting our fire wood, we will always have a warm house.  

7.  Learn to "put up" fruits and vegetables

Learning to can, dehydrate or freeze fruits and vegetables while they are in season is fun and inexpensive.  When you are preserving your own foods, you know what you are putting in it (and what you are leaving out) which is a great way to keep your family full of healthy meals. 

8.  Ride a bike

Bikes are people powered and cars are not.  Biking is a great form of exercise and lets you cut down on the amount of gas you are using / having to pay for.  

9.  Use public transportation

If biking isn't for you (or even if it is) use public transportation when you can.  If we are all going to the same place, why do we all have to drive ourselves?

10.  Keep learning

There are sooo many ways that you can reduce your impact on the environment and take care of your family.  There are a ton of great blogs and books out there and remember every little step helps!

~Written by Kailyn Shippee, owner and crafter of Spotty Dog Crochet

Wet Bag with Style!

Today we are featuring a very stylish clutch wet bag from Bright Rose Creations. As you can see by the picture, this is not your ordinary wet bag.  I was talking with Sharon, shop owner, about her design.  She said,   "I was basically in the mood for something girly, so I made a girly wet bag!". The fabric rose, while cute she knew was not practical with the amount of washings a wet bag goes through, so she made it to snap off for washing! It also has a nice strap for hanging dry.

Sharon has been making cloth diapers and supplies for about two years, and selling on Etsy for a little over a year.  I was intrigued by her name and asked her how she came up with it.  Here is her reply, "I am always happiest to create and paint in "Bright" light.  On sunny days, I just want to paint or sew.  "Rose" is my middle name, and also my favorite flower.  And "Creations", because there are so many things that I like to create.  I choose to make things that I really enjoy, and that I find useful for myself, my family, or my pets.  I  create a wide variety of items, using different crafting modalities - sewing, handknitting, painting.  Creations is the catch all term for all of my creative endeavors."

BrightRose Creations also makes custom dog diapers! She has made diapers for 7 pound dogs, and 80 pound dogs! Each one is custom fit.

Sharon has graciously agreed to giveaway a set of 6 washable wipes and a tote bag this week.  Simply follow the directions below for your chance to win these beautiful and useful products from BrightRose Creations.

2 Required entries:

-Follow this blog, etsyclothdiapers.blogspot.com, via Google friend connect. If you are already a follower, just leave a comment saying you already follow. Otherwise, leave a comment saying you are a new follower.
-Visit BrightRose Creations shop; come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.

Additional optional entries (leave a separate comment for EACH of the following that apply)(be sure that you are signed in or leave a way to contact you in each comment):
- Like BrightRoseCreations on Facebook
- Like the Etsy Cloth Diaper team on Facebook
- Follow the Etsy Cloth Diaper team on Twitter
- Tweet about the giveaway (limit one per day) - be sure to use @etsyclothdiaper in your tweet

-Post about the giveaway on your own blog.


Giveaway closes at 11:59pm EST on November 2nd.

Winner will be announced on this blog on Thursday Oct. 3rd.


A random blog comment number will be selected using random.org. You MUST comment on this blog post to be entered, and have contact info in your profile. Each entry entry must be its own comment. If you combine entries into one comment, it will only count as one entry. Winning entries will be validated, and you MUST do the required entry to have any additional entries be valid. Thank you for entering!

Five Tips for a Greener Halloween

Many of us try to do our part for the planet, but when faced with a holiday it's easy to slip back into old habits and forget to make "green" choices. Here are five quick and easy ways to "green up" your Halloween celebration.

1. Light up the night the eco way - with LED or solar-powered lights yard lights. Don't forget to replace your porch light with a CFL bulb too!

2. Host a costume swap and invite everyone you know. Plan to repeat every year for an endless supply of "new" costumes for your children, your husband, maybe even the dog.

3. Get crafty and do it yourself! Making your own costumes and decorations is fun, and saves money too. A quick search on the internet will give you more ideas than you'll have time or energy for.

4. Pick a huge pumpkin and let each member of the family contribute instead of buying multiple pumpkins that will just be thrown away.

5. Take a hike and walk around the neighborhood instead of driving house to house or street to street. Not only is it better for the environment, it's better for your health too.

Challenge yourself to see how plastic-free you can be this Halloween. I know my family won't be able to go 100% plastic free, but I'm going to see how creative we can get to avoid using plastic as much as possible.

What are your favorite Green Halloween tips?

Image credit: http://carolbrowne.com/

Cleaning Green Equals Saving Green

Chances are, if you cloth diaper your little people you're doing it for one of two reasons. Maybe even both of the big reasons. You want to save the planet? You bet. You want to save some money? YOU BET! (I'll admit it, when I first started cloth diapering my children, my motives were not that altruistic. It was about saving some green. Dollars.) Now, my motives for switching to greener cleaners was to preserve my families health. And that's what we're talking about today. Savings of several things. Our wallets. Our planet. Our HEALTH.

I started looking for ways to use less chemicals in my home. My kids tend to find the odd food item on the floor and almost always put it into their mouths. So of course we don't want toxic chemical residue to even touch our children. That lead me to discovering three tried and true natural cleaners that you most likely already have in your kitchen! Vinegar, Baking Soda and Lemon. Easy peasy, you can clean just about anything with these three magic, nature made ingredients and it will cost on average less than $3 for all three combined.

Vinegar (the distilled white variety):
1. Use 1/2 to 1 cup in your laundry as a natural fabric softener and odor eliminator.
2. Use equal parts vinegar to water combined with a spray bottle and you have a wonderful multi-surface cleaner. This is a great way to get sparkling clean windows!!
3. Place shallow dishes around the house to absorb lingering odors. (this is also a great way get rid of paint fumes) Or use a bowl microwaved for 30 seconds and allowed to sit in it to clean tough, cooked on gunk in your microwave.

Baking Soda
1. Pour equal parts vinegar and baking soda down a clogged drain to help break up buildup in blocked or slow draining pipes. Chase with a pot of boiling water.
2. Sprinkle baking soda in your sink and bathtubs to give it a good, abrasive scrub without damaging the finish. Bonus: It rinses clean far easier than commercial brand chemical cleaners.
3. Like Scrubbing Bubbles? Pour baking soda into toilet bowl and scrub, then add vinegar to get a good fizzing clean going on.
4. Brush your teeth with a brush head dabbed in baking soda for a super fresh and noticably whiter smile.


Lemon:
1. Spray or dab lemon juice on mildew stains in the shower and let sit. Come back and scrub with a baking soda and a stiff brush for shiny clean grout and less soap scum.
2. Use lemon juice and vegetable oils to polish and shine your wood furniture.
3. Dump your used lemon peels into the garbage disposal for a citrus fresh kitchen deoderizer and garbage disposal cleaner.
4. Apply lemon juice to stained garments and allow to sit. Even better, allow to sit in the sun. Combined they make a powerful bleach alternative.

That's just brushing the surface of cleaning green to save you green. There are so many natural, yet tried and true methods out there that have the mark of approval by generations of wives, mothers, and housekeepers that have come before us. If you are interested in saving green, give one or two of these "recipes" a try. Chances are everthing you need to get started is already in your kitchen. All that's lacking is your elbow grease and the willingness to want to change the way we interact with our most constant environment, our homes.